Brett Hinds, the former lead guitarist and co-vocalist of Mastodon, died in a motorcycle crash in Atlanta Wednesday night (August 21), local news outlets report. Hinds was riding a Harley Davidson when another vehicle failed to yield, causing a collision, according to Atlanta News First. Hinds was 51 years old.
William Brent Hinds was born in Alabama but moved to Atlanta in the mid 1990s, where he met future Mastodon bandmate Troy Sanders and joined his band Four Hour Fogger. After that group’s dissolution, the duo sought to form another, eventually picking up drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher to form Mastodon. They released a string of highly regarded metal albums, including the 2004 Moby Dick concept LP Leviathan and Grammy-nominated follow-up Blood Mountain, before Hinds’ unceremonious departure, announced this year.
